Week 2

End of a second great week in SA.  Time is already flying by.

It was a week of firsts...

On the personal side:

First wipeout while running-  tripped over a curb and skidded across an intersection on my stomach.   Thankfully just road rash and a bruised hip.  And to think I was scared to run in my neighborhood due to crime. #theonlydangerismyself

#atleastitsnotmyface

This lead to my first experience at the pharmacy:

This wasn't my only injury this weekend, I also had my first run in with razor wire-

I was swinging my arms while walking and didn't see the wall next to me covered in razor wire. #thankgodfortetnusshots

We met new friends recommended by a co-worker.. They drink a lot, swear a lot and like techno... I think we'll get along just fine.

Little blue shots on a Monday.

First trip to the mall...

I also had my first international banking experience.  I'm not sure if it is actually required, but we could not find a way around it-  we had to hire a personal banker who supposedly sets everything up for us... It took over a week.  And I thought one of the perks was not having to go to the bank, but we still had to a week later although the banker did drive us there and it was in the mall,so that saved an uber ride.  I now have a bank account although it has no money in it since the lady I'm paying the big bucks to help didn't really explain the transfer part to me.

On the work front-

First visit to a township.   Went on a trade visit with work. The email said to wear casual clothes and "Trekkies" because we were going "Kasi-style".  Cue some furious urban-dictionary-ing. Trekkies =sneakers and kasi= township.   Our adventure started with shoving 9 people into our 7 people shuttle van.  They said the wanted me to experience a mini taxi.

Our first stop was the co-packer that produces our product. 

The next stop Tembisa Township and a wholesaler where are products are sold to smaller wholesalers and hawkers.

Our product, Nik Naks, are sold in large bags called bailers.  Nik Naks are similar to Cheetos.

Bailers are also sold at smaller stores such as these-

 The bailers are purchased by hawkers and the products are sold to consumers at road side stands like this one-

We have an incentive program where hawkers can earn prizes such as table clothes, t-shirts and umbrellas which increase awareness of our products and sales for the hawkers.

The program is run by ambassadors.  I had the pleasure of meeting one- he was one of the most passionate and proud people I've encountered.

Koos our brand ambassador for the hawkers program.

Some pictures of the township-

And chickens

We stopped for a very "kasi" snack- Mayo which is a yogurt drink eaten frozen. Very nice considering it was like 90 degrees. 

For lunch, quarters or kota...

A quarter loaf of bread, egg, cheese, French fries and usually meat.  And a spicey picked mango chutney. 

First work baby shower-

All and all a great second week...

Cheers! 

Lesson for today.

Apparently the pin numbers that you receive with your phone Sim cards are really important and not just for activation.


I've now successfully locked myself out of my South African phone.


:(

Happiness!

After a struggle with the  hotel, the relocation agency and it seems like everyone else I have a washing machine!!!   I dont have a drying rack so I don't exactly know how I'm going to try this load but I guess I'll figure it out shortly.
I don't take no for an answer!!!

Now excuse me while I sit here on the floor and watch my clothes wash.

6 months

I'm a horrible wife and ran away 6 months after our wedding.   I miss you boo and no matter what distance physically separates us you are always in my heart.

First impressions.

I've been here exactly a week.  And while I have yet to see a giraffe, I did just notice a lizard crawling around by the pool.

This week has been a whirlwind- a 2-day journey through the Middle East, followed almost immediately by an off site meeting at a resort, then back to deal with housekeeping issues and general orientation.

The flights were long but uneventful. We spent our layover in Qatar, which was beautiful and vibrant.  We stayed in the al Jasra Hotel, on Souq Waqif, a busy street filled with shops and restaurants. 

 Here we had our first experience with non - urgency which will quickly become a prominent theme.  I asked for change at the front desk and was told that it would be brought up in 5 minutes.   5 minutes equaled 20, but luckily not 25 because that is about when the alarms began to sound and we had to evacuate.  Apparently, it was just a power outage and not a fire.   We used the time to explore a little and grab dinner.   The coolest thing we saw was the falcon store... stores that sold hunting falcons!  So cool!   Apparently the biggest falcon hospital in the world is also in Qatar.  After a restless night, we headed to the airport at 4 am to continue our journey to our new home.

If I tried to share every detail of my experiences this week, I will be writing for days, so i will sum it up in a highlight list...

Top 10 Things I learned this week:

1.  Monkey Gland Sauce does not equal monkey gland sauce.

2.  Hoot is horn.  Hooters are people who hoot a lot.

3.  Africa time.  Time moves much slower, there rarely seems to be a sense of urgency.   When you ask for things, they may eventually get done or they may not.    

         Sunday-  "Can I please have dishes and hangers brought up?"   "Yes, tomorrow"

         Monday-  "Can I please have dishes and hangers brought up?"   "Yes, tomorrow"

         Tuesday-   "Can I please have dishes and hangers brought up?"   "Yes, tomorrow"

         Wednesday-   "Can I please have dishes and hangers brought up?"   "Yes, tomorrow"

                                 "Um, what does tomorrow mean to you, because I don't think it means the same                                         to me?"   "I promise, tomorrow"

         Thursday-   "Today?   Can it be done TODAY?"     "Well, I don't know if we have hangers.                                      Maybe dishes"

          Friday-   I go on a shopping spree.

4.  Mini taxis-   Avoid at all costs.    They can go fast, slow, cut you off, stop in the middle of the road... pretty much anything.  

5.  Internations  is a pretty good resource for expats, has decent events and I think will be an asset here.  Friday we went to a Halloween party.  I was Wednesday Adams.

6.  The cleaning staff is screwing with me.... this will probably needs to be a separate post.

7.  

 Beetles are big.  This is my new friend, Bruce.

    

8.  Parking guards-    You pay them to guard your car.   Unclear if they are a real job or not.   But they have uniforms.   Sometimes they will push your cart and load your car.  Sometimes not.

9.  "just now" and "now, now"-  what to reply when you may do something at some undefined point in the future.  

10.  "Happiness!!"-  Alternative to "great" or "awesome"      

Bucket List!!

I've always had a bucket race list in my head... but all of these Running World Posts l are making it difficult for me to remember all the awesome races that I NEED to run.

So I'm starting a list.... What races are on your must do list??  Which ones have I forgotten??  

• Bay to Breakers (Drunk people and costumes!)  12k, May, San Francisco, CA
• Napa to Sonoma  (Wine, duh!) 1/2 marathon, July, Napa, CA
• Rock n Roll Vegas ( Mary needs Nevada, although the full looks boring)  full and 1/2, November, Las Vegas, Nevada
• Grandma's  (I heard good things and it's pretty),  Full, June, Duluth, Minnesota
• Flying Pig (Pigs! Swag! Pig swag!), Full/Half/challenges, May, Cincinnati, Ohio
• London  (London, duh!)  Full, April, London, UK
• Tokyo (excuse to visit my 2nd favorite city)  Full, February, Tokyo
• Big 5 (chance to run with Lions (and giraffes and rhinos), for real), Full/Half, South Africa
• Detroit (2 countries, 1 race!), Full, Detroit, Mi
• Disney Races  (because I feel like its a requirement),  any/all, multi distances and challenges, Orland, FL

This is just the beginning!   I will add more as I remember!

UPDATE:

Will the generous donation of my brother and sister-in-law, I am 80% to my goal of $1500 for Girls on the Run fundraising for the Chicago Marathon!!   I only have $300 to go... that's only 30 people donating  $10!!!  So easy!!    Please donate here!

YAY! 2/3rds there!!!

I'm over the $1000 hump!! Less than $400 to go!!!  Thank you, thank you, thank you for all who have donated.  I sincerely appreciate it.

 I'm not going to lie... training this year has been tough.   Tougher than what I remember from last year.   I'm not sure why... maybe I'm traveling a bit more, maybe I'm busier in general... I don't know.   I know that I've been so tired for the last few weeks.   It really has been difficult to stay motivated to do anything at all, esp. running.

I arrived at Fleet Feet Saturday totally convinced I would not be able to get through 11 miles.  I was just getting over jet lagged... I only managed 6.5 in London the week before instead of the scheduled 10.  
I dropped back to pace a slower group which was suppose to only do 10, but we end up doing 11 anyway :)   Got back to the store to see that Asic was setting up for a free 5k- Detox Dash.   I love free swag and free food, so of course I, along with my other pacer buddies, decided it was a great idea to put in 3 more miles.    I was super sore yesterday, but the free shirts and hat were worth it.

A couple pics I stole from Courtney, because my phone is so busted it is difficult to take pictures at this point.   (On a side note, my new phone is sitting in a box on the counter... I'm not allowed to open it until my new case and screen protector arrive.   It took 3 broken phones to learn this lesson, but I think I finally got it-  phone needs heavy duty case.)

Half way point!

Detox Dash Rockstars!  Go CES!

I'm getting super super close to my fundraising goal of $1500... I really didn't think I'd be able to do it!  If you have a few bucks, please consider donating.  Every dollar counts... I just realized there's a $10 minimum on the fundraising page... if you'd prefer to Quickpay or give cash, I'm happy submit all cash donations at once. Just let me know!